Israel bombs ‘heart of Tehran’ as Trump mulls 10,000 more ground troops (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

The US president touts “talks” with Iran as his Secretary of War vows to keep “negotiating with bombs”

US President Donald Trump has claimed that talks with Tehran “are going very well” and delayed strikes on the Islamic Republic’s power facilities for another 10 days – while Israel has intensified its strikes and the Pentagon is reportedly mulling additional deployments to the region.

The IDF has conducted a wide-scale bombing raid “in the heart of Tehran” and elsewhere across Iran overnight, targeting unspecified infrastructure. The Iranian Red Crescent said the strikes hit multiple civilian buildings, with search and rescue operations underway in the capital, central city of Qom and Urmia in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province.

Although Trump has again touted alleged progress in negotiations during a White House Cabinet meeting on Thursday, the Department of War is reportedly considering deploying up to 10,000 additional ground forces to the Middle East. If approved, the new deployment would add to 2,000 elite paratroopers and up to 5,000 Marines already en route to the region.

“The Department of War will continue negotiating with bombs,” Pete Hegseth has reiterated, amid mounting concerns of a looming ground invasion.

Tehran has denied holding any direct talks with the US and reportedly outlined its own strict terms for any ceasefire, refusing to talk on Washington’s terms, after the US and Israel already “backstabbed” Iran twice during negotiations.

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Here are the latest developments:

• Russia has close relations with Iran – but this does not mean it shares intelligence with Tehran – Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, noting that the locations of the US bases in the Middle East are “publicly available information” and “everyone in the region knows their coordinates.”

• Trump initially threatened last Saturday to “obliterate” Iran’s power network if it does not reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz to international shipping. After Tehran warned it will retaliate against the entire regional energy infrastructure, Trump on Monday postponed his threat for five days. On Thursday, he again postponed the deadline until April 6, claiming that Tehran begged for more time.

• Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was reportedly “temporarily” removed from the US-Israeli kill list for Washington to have someone to talk to, has insisted that receiving messages does not constitute “talks.”

Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.